


Resurrection

by honey_and_raspberries



Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Team Fortress 2
Genre: And yes I could feature Borderlands characters but sorry, F/M, I mean I have no idea why I even wrote this down, TF2 characters are only mentioned but are still important for the story, also there is mentioned overdosing on medicine so keep this in mind please if you fing it triggering, and an interesting idea I saw in a few artworks, and it's not spicy, basically he survives, idk - Freeform, im sorry people, no smut here, oh yeah and he doesn't have robotic legs, only cringe and some attempted comforting, this is based on the echo recording of Handsome Jack saying he poisoned Wilhelm, what else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24509329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honey_and_raspberries/pseuds/honey_and_raspberries
Summary: You are the witnesses of yet another AU. I’ve actually seen this one in other people’s art, so I do not say I’ve created it. Basically, Wilhelm survives the fight with Vault Hunter after crashing the train. But hey, why not make it super cringy self-insert? Why not be the part of the show? Because that’s what I intend to do.
Relationships: Wilhem (Borderlands)/Reader





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you are interested, here's a nice song  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MQ_DNklrFo  
> I think I created most of that story listening to it...

Sometimes an interesting story begins because you feel bored, ending up at a place you don't usually visit. Let’s just say that you visiting any place other that workplace is really unusual. You always preferred to spend your free time alone, playing games or just procrastinating. But there you were, late evening, at one of local pubs, with a close friend of yours. Also not an extrovert, but since you said it would be kinda nice to stop there for some reason, you both ended up sitting in there, each with a beer. Fortunately, it was middle of the week, so the place wasn’t so dramatically crowded. The two of you went to almost empty hall, besides you there were mostly some bored students playing truant and others who didn’t get much of your attention. People seemed to not mind you being just silly – watching stupid videos, laughing – it seemed to them like nothing special, something commonly seen in such place. But your friend couldn’t stay as long as you – work, unfortunately. She said goodbye and left you there. 

You still had some beer though, and decided to stay and finish it. Would be a shame to waste it! It was like transition – from meme addict, mindlessly snickering at your phone, to a calm human being. While drinking, you caught an eye contact. Nothing special, people tend to look at each other (and think “how ugly”). But this person seemed to just stare at you. He was older than you, probably in his 40s, looking very grumpy. Maybe the man was just angry at you for being loud a few minutes ago? Nonsense, although you tended to laugh louder than you wanted sometimes, you also knew how to behave. Well, maybe. You hoped your silly behavior wasn’t actually annoying. But apart from being concerned about irritating other people, you sometimes had that inner need to be rude. So now that you had his attention, you meanly smirked and winked at visibly troubled man. The satisfaction from ruining someone’s day even more was immeasurable. I mean, what could possibly happen. 

What happened, was, in fact, the man stood up, slowly, grabbed his glass and backpack, and started walking towards you. You had approximately 7 seconds to decide whether you should apologize, play cool, or suddenly remember that you had left the milk on the stove and have to leave immediately.  
You noticed how careful he seemed with his movements, he looked very tense and agitated, which, adding to his apperance, was actually making you a bit nervous. He was tall, well-built, wearing jeans and simple black hoodie. He was also wearing leather glove on his left hand. The man had very sharp facial features, and kinda nice, long and evenly cut beard. Part of it, as well as his temples were gray, even though he didn’t look older than 50. What was the most noticeable, however, was the cybernetic eye, softly glowing with a cold, blue light. ‘Oh, so this is how I die’, you thought. 

He sat in front of you as if he knew you, and for a moment you thought he returned the smirk, making you feel slightly sorry for passively mocking him. Now that you could look loser, he looked more sick than grumpy. Not very serious though, maybe hangover?  
“Can I use your phone?”  
Wow, what a voice. To be honest, he sounded like someone who smokes 2 packs of red Marlboros a day. And you had so many questions already.  
‘What for? Don’t you have yours?’  
“No.”  
Huh. That was unexpected.  
‘So what do you need? Do you want to call someone?’  
“No. I need to find something.”  
He sounded stern and confident. You didn’t mind helping someone out a bit, but although you loved aiding people, you couldn’t just give someone your phone full of questionable content!  
‘Look, I can help you, but I will not give it to you. You understand, don’t you.. Why didn’t you take yours?’  
It all made more sense when the man explained that he could possibly be spied on, therefore decided not to risk any unwanted attention, and has been poisoned by his godforsaken employer, Handsome Jack. Hearing that the man was workig for Hyperion, you flinched. You tried not to jugde people by appearance, but now, knowing for whom he worked, you were just scared. But you decided to listen, and indeed, wait with your judgement.  
He told you he’d overheard him mentioning that, obviously not even caring about him finding out. He wasn’t even sure why – whether he got bored or had some reason, and he was an obstacle. Now you realised that, what looked like hangover, could be something else, much worse than what you feel after drinking too much cheap vodka. You wasn’t sure why he was telling you all this. Well, you suspected why, because he also told you that in a few days he was supposed to set a trap for Vault Hunters – and there was no way of surviving that in this condition. Anyway, even if he somehow survived, Jack clearly wanted him dea, whatever was the reason. What a creative way to get rid of someone you no longer need…  
‘I see you don’t like working for him anymore.. How do you feel about it all?’  
“What?!”  
‘Do you accept it and just want to share your story with me or..’ - you didn’t finish, just watch him, as he stared down blankly. After a few seconds, he almost growled, clenching his teeth.  
“No.”  
For a moment it looked like a breakdown. Small, but still.  
“You know, we used to be friends, I kinda liked the way he used to think. Now.. It’s just madness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a good person myself, I killed people, but..”  
He frowned  
“I’ve seen and done some fucked up shit, let me tell you”  
‘And I see you feel bad about it now, don’t you?’  
“Hmph. I guess.”  
Very convincing. Yet you decided to listen, find out whether he was just afraid to die or having other plans…  
“So, can I use that phone now? Maybe I can still do something.”  
‘What, no!’  
“Pleeease, goddamit!”  
‘And what are you gonna do, google it and read that you have a cancer? Now, tell me everything…’  
It wasn’t easy, it was all so vague, but still enough to rule some out. But it still sounded kinda similar to you. It reminded you of that time when you took more pills than you should, and chased them with beer. Not much, not enough to harm you probably, but you felt super hang over later. You told him that you had one idea, but apart from everything he told you, and what you saw, no evidence. Just a guess based on some stuff you read about, and probably experienced once.  
But damn, you actually noticed how he was shaking, and how his breathing was shallow.  
“Goddamn, why the hell would you do that?”  
‘Honestly? I dunno.’  
“Pff. Whatever, what were those? I though medicine makes you feel better, not puke your guts out!”  
‘Dude, I said I have an idea, not that I’ve found it! You know, let me text my friend, maybe he’s still up. He can help with confirming that. Or just help anyway, I mean, I’m guessing.’  
As you were typing, you asked him  
‘So what are you going to do after that? Start all over?’  
“Get my revenge first.”  
‘Heh, clear your name?”  
“Hah! Sorry, I don’t think that’s possible, you know? Just kill the bastard.”  
Then, to your delight, the sound of your ringtone went off. It was Mr Ludwig, the skeleton thief :P (because in this house we mix fandoms and you can’t do anything about that)  
It was a good night – the doctor without a medical license agreed to take a peek at some of your new friend’s blood.  
‘Well then, come on, lets bring you closer to your redemption!’  
He quietly chuckled at your words and carefully got up, reaching for his backpack and pulling gas mask from it.  
‘What’s that for? You sure you will be good in that?’  
“Don’t want to be recognized”


	2. Chapter 2

The base in which you were supposed to meet Medic was quite far, and you both have been drinking. And this is why public transport exists.  
You got out and had to walk to the base for quite some time through what closely resembled desert, despite it was partially covered in snow and the ground was frozen solid. It was night now, and softly blowing cold wind with your footsteps were the only things being heard in the silence. He clearly wasn’t talkative. You weren’t either, so you enjoyed the time in silence, admiring the moment. Suddenly, the man asked you  
“Why are you doing all that?”  
‘All what?’  
“You listened to me. Texted your friend, brought me here. Why?”  
You just shrugged – you didn’t know either. More than that, you still weren’t sure if you should do it. You didn’t even ask him for a name.  
“Thanks” His voice sounded a bit softer this time, even though he still sounded a bit dissociated. Probably he was only trying to sound kind.  
‘No problem. What’s your name anyway?”  
“Wilhelm”

After a few minutes of walking in silence you reached the base, and Mr Ludwig was already waiting for you. He greeted both of you cheerfully despite it being almost 1am, and took you to his lab.  
You were sitting with them in clinic, watching the Medic examine Wilhelm, looking at peace, however far from truth that was. He was calm now, but you were sure he was in pain. Medic, concerned about his breathing, decided to give him a breathing mask, then drew some blood and left him, busy making tests. At least you suggested what to look for. He said it would take some time, so he told you to find some medicine and give it to your new friend.  
‘And what are those?’  
“Uhh, just some Valium, don’t worry”  
‘Valium??’  
“Yes, and take that one too!”  
You only hoped that medic knew what he was doing, the last thing you wanted was to actually kill this guy. He already looked miserable. So you gave him the pills and sat next to him, hoping to chat a bit while Medic was making tests.  
‘So what were you doing there anyway? Isn’t that a strange idea to go to a club while barely standing on your own?’  
Well, at least you knew how to make him chuckle, that’s for sure.  
“I used to enjoy going there a few years back, that’s why.”  
‘Don’t worry, you won’t die.’  
You were never good at comforting people, and you tried not to make your words sound empty. Most of times you actually seemed cold and not caring, but for the first time, the big guy actually smiled.  
Finally, you heard Medic’s happy voice, exlaiming he’d found the problem, and that you, for some reason, were right??  
You couldn’t believe it to be honest, you clearly didn’t know much about poisonous chemicals, you only guessed based on something you remembered and what actually fit the description.. Except that anything could fit this description.  
“Now, my friend, it would seem that you are suffering like that because there’s too much serotonin in your body!” Medic explained, eerily excited, “just, you know, stop taking whatever you are being given, heheh!”  
“Hah! Yeah..what?”

‘Medic, are you sure? Isn’t that like, a dumb way to poison somebody?’  
“Dumb or not, it’s effective my dear, now, I think I know how to stabilize our friend here.. juust, give me a moment..” And he went off looking for something.  
Well, yes, that was dumb, but no one ever never said the man behind it wasn’t stupid as well. You were actually shocked that your lucky guess was actually true. Before you managed to gather your thoughts, Medic was back with even more pills. Goddamit.  
“That should help bring you back to normal, and take them with you, in case you’d need them later”  
That’s very kind of him, isn’t it?  
‘Hey wait, what is it?’  
“Ah nothing special, it will help reverse it, don’t worry.”  
Anyway, Wilhelm was told to stay overnight, and you weren’t sure whether you should go home or stay too. But, since getting home would take some time, Medic told you to stay as well. That was probably all you could do about bringing your new friend back to normal, now you could just wait for him to recover.


	3. Chapter 3

You were awakened by some quiet noises in early morning. For once you actually appreciated being a light sleeper. The sun was rising, and warm light was beginning to flood the room. Wilhelm was up, looking still sleepy, and you noticed he was gathering his stuff, probably wanting to leave.  
‘Hey, you ok? Won’t you stay a bit longer?’  
“Nah, sorry. Shouldn’t really attract any attention, you know?”  
‘But are you better now?’  
“Kind of.”  
‘Dude, what does it mean “kind of”?!’  
He looked at you a bit vexed, making you wish you didn’t sound so rude, it gave you goosebumps, a bit. Scary.   
“I’ll make it.”

Well, it seemed to you he was right, what could you do with that? It made sense that he shouldn’t stick out too much now. He spent more than entire night away from where he was supposed to be, so you decided not to argue with him.   
‘Aight, so let me ask again – how are you?’  
“Better, a bit”  
‘Good, well, just do what Medic said and you should be fine soon. He must be sleeping now, I’ll tell him later you thanked him.”  
So you got up too – sometimes it’s a good thing to sleep in your clothes, less work in the morning. As soon as you woke up for good, you both left the place. You very rarely got up so early, but when you happened to do so, apart from desperately wanting to go back to bed, you were always totally awed. Especially in winters, on frosty mornings, like this one. There was something magical about the atmosphere at this time – hardly any people around, the fresh air, fog.. It felt strange – Wilhelm was quiet again, and you were dissociated, adoring the scenery, which caused your walk to be filled with awkward silence. However, before you split your ways, he turned to you and finally spoke, sounding unsure about his words.  
“Thanks, uhh, I still don’t know why are you doing this, but, thanks.” he nervously stroked his beard while speaking.  
‘No problem. How long till you are supposed to die?’  
“4 days.” His speech was almost expressionless.  
You reached to your backpack, looking for something to write on. You thought it’s enough time to think of something more to do, now you somehow felt obligated to help this man survive. You kind of understood him, probably wanting to be free of guilt. If this is what he felt right now. He was curiously watching you as you wrote something on what used to be receipt containing information that you prefer your wine cheap. It was an e-mail address, a strange looking one. It didn’t contain an actual name either, except from some gibberish.  
“So this is how I’m supposed to call you, huh?”  
‘Call me whatever you want, pick a name or nickname, whatever. You know how to use that?’  
“Yeah, what for?”  
‘Maybe I can help you more, you can do a lot in 4 days, believe me my dude. Just, you know, contact me, so I can reach you back.’  
Wilhelm lightly laughed at you, but it didn’t look offensive.  
“Aren’t you scared?”  
‘What do you mean, us contacting? Pff, good luck tracking this one.’  
“Aight, I’ll think about that”  
‘I would appreciate if you didn’t just think about that. You know, you need to actually survive if your death is to be faked. From what you’ve told me...”  
“What?”  
For a second, you disconnected from reality. Did you say some gibberish? Did you make any sense? Nobody knows.  
‘What?’  
“I didn’t say anything about faking my death!”  
‘But wouldn’t it be safer? Think about it! What, you just go there guns blazing and announce you are going to flip the whole place upside down?! Nononono my dude, you stay put and pretend you die. Theen, yeah, do whatever you want!’  
He stared at you like at a madman while you were saying it, but eventually his face shifted from unbelieving to actually approving.   
“Huh. Maybe you have a point there.”  
‘See? See?! You need me! Ok, we’ve been standing here for a while, I gotta go. Stay safe, I’ll be waiting for you to contact me!’  
He smiled at you amused, and left.


	4. Chapter 4

You finally stepped into your house, craving something to eat. It was quiet, and however messy, it felt empty. You weren’t sure whether you should be cheking your email or give up, thinking that the man had ignored your request, but you hoped your efforts wouldn’t go to waste, so you logged onto your account.  
After a few hours filled with eating, procrastination and trying not to give up on researching other possible ideas to help your new friend, you got a notification. You have never in your life been more delighted to hear one.   
The address from which the message was sent resembled that of yours – you were impressed that he wasn’t reckless and decided to stay quiet, even while texting you. It was simple, and you really appreciated when people weren’t trying to be fancy with their text messages. It felt more natural.  
“Still into that sneaky big show? Do you got something?”

It was like getting TRIGGERED, but in a positive way. In that time you managed to read some interesting stuff – some of it lead you nowhere to be honest, but at least you learned how induced coma works. But at the moment you were trying to list your ideas in such a way that wouldn’t scare Wilhelm away.  
To be exact, you explained that you both need to ensure he would stay alive, whatever beating he took there, as well as how to sneakily take him to some secure place to let him recover after that. You still felt like your ideas were worthless, but it was still better than doing nothing. So you listed your findings, and waited.

‘I tried to look for something that could make you look dead, but I didn’t got much stuff that would be easy to do on the go. Induced coma is kind of impossible, same goes for faking lack of pulse. I mean, I’ve read of some monks meditating and slowing it to super slow, but you don’t look like the master of meditation type. No offence.  
I was thinking about you taking some substance that would have delayed effect and make you seem like dropped dead, but I guess that might be risky. I guess maybe we could use pacemaker to prevent you dying, but getting one could be problematic. We would also need to put it inside you, but Medic can help with that. You decide, or maybe suggest something else, idk.   
And after that, you will need to be taken to safe place rather quickly, I’m pretty sure snow won’t help you much, but I will think of that later.’

You got a response rather quickly, one revealing certain thing about your new friend, who immediately announced that he wanted to make it with help of another piece of metal in his body. No other option! “I want it, and I want it now!” He also mentioned he would be using powersuit – by the way you learned how “awesome and cool” it was, but this also gave you an idea. Lets pretend to be scrap collectors with some people! It would be easy to pick him up without suspicion, and it could be occasion for quite a costume party to be honest. You noted to bring some cheap beer to add more genuinity. Incredible, in such short time, you roughly agreed on almost whole plan. Soon, you were calling Mr Ludwig once again…


	5. Chapter 5

“I’m afraid I don’t have those! Why would I have one, we don’t need them!”  
‘Well, do you know where to get one? Preferably a working one?’  
“Steal it!”  
‘From where?!’  
“I don’t know, hospital maybe?”  
‘Ok, jokes aside, where do I get one?’  
“Oh please, you haven’t tried ordering one from somewhere?”  
‘Not enough time for that! Ok, assuming I’ll put my hands on one, could you help putting it in and make it work?’  
“Well, ASSUMING you do that, I don’t see a problem.”  
‘Ok, thanks, I’ll let you know how it.. or wait… is it hard to make one?’  
“Shouldn’t be difficult to assemble it, but I wouldn’t risk walking around with that!”

So you spent another few hours trying to figure out what is needed to assemble what Wilhelm decided to use, and most importantly, how to make it work properly. Getting parts was rather easy – battery, some wires, and other stuff that could be found, but you needed to ask someone to put it all together to create functional, improvised pacemaker. You were jokingly considering using RaspberryPi in it. Most of needed stuff you quickly collected before night, saving the rest for the following day.   
To be honest, you had no experience with any hardware or programming. You didn’t have much friends either, but Medic was not the only one who could help you. See, this is why you should be at good terms with people. You called Mr Ludwig and asked if Engie was nearby.

You sure owed some people a beer, and hoped it was all worth it. Engie kind of agreed to tinker with what you brought along with your friend. You and Wilhelm decided it would be safer to arrange that earlier, giving you the time to react if something went wrong. Besides, he seemed super excited about it. You were waiting for him at the place where you’ve seen each other the previous day. Despite the fact that he was wearing that gas mask again, you immediately recognized him. Maybe except the fact that this time his moves were more confident – it seemed that he felt much better now.   
You led him to Medic’s clinic, where the guys were waiting for you, Engie almost done with this peculiar contraption, made of what you brought. Wilhelm seemed to feel at ease, obviously trusting these men. Quite logical, since one of them helped him a lot already. He greeted both of them, and reached for his backpack. It seemed that you were not the only one who thought you owe somebody a beer. And you got one too! It was also when he took of his glove, revealing for the first time his cybernetic hand. Engie wasn’t the only one impressed by it for sure, but sadly you couldn’t relate – you didn’t have one.

As you would suspect, Medic never cared about anesthesis, and Wilhelm seemed to not mind too. You stayed at clinic, since obviously it would be pointless to leave and go back immediately. Putting the contraption inside Wilhelm’s chest didn’t take long, even despite Medic was drinking his beer during the procedure. That was incredible view – the Medic with beer in one hand, operating on awake man with cut open chest, both just talking to each other, as if that was something usual. More than that, they looked both so relaxed. You weren’t surprised about Medic, he was professional despite not having medical license, but you were amazed how calm Wilhelm was. Some casual chatting and one sexy wound dressing later, it was all set and done.   
They seemed to come along together, which was the best thing to happen, since you were pretty sure they would meet again soon. For now, Wilhelm had to leave, quite soon, but that was obviously understandable. You once again led Wilhelm out of the base, hoping it all would work out. You must have looked very concerned, because he surprisingly told you a few words of encouragement, if you could call it that.  
“Ey don’t worry girl, you did great. “  
‘Thanks, I tried, despite the fact that, you know, I only gave some ideas.’  
“Ever seen a job done without good objective? Come’ere.” And with that he embraced you with one arm and patted your shoulder. “See you in 3 days!” He saluted for a goodbye and went in his direction. You hoped to actually speak to him again in those 3 days.


	6. Chapter 6

You managed to get in touch with some buddies, who gladly agreed to go out messing around dressed up as scrap collectors, drink and do some job by the way (probably only drink though). It would be best to use a pick-up already carrying some old metal. Since you had other stuff to do, you needed a driver, so one of them said they would get wasted other time maybe, and hoped to have fun filming other flipping out between driving around. You promised to keep company, there are other occasions to drink indeed. (yes, it’s going to be a shitshow. Whole fanfic is a shitshow)

Your super-secret team has been driving around for quite some time now, but it was around 20 minutes ago when you’ve heard an explosion nearby, so you stopped for a while. From that point there have been faint noises of shooting and explosions audible all the time, although mostly subdued by the sound of metal being cut. You just hoped your friend remembered to take it easy there. And goddamit, you were nervous as hell. Your buddies weren’t flipping out, they just brought some beer, at least that made you more confident. Your driver colleague noticed you shaking like before an exam, and mercifully told you to crack one open. It was chilly there, snow mostly covered the vast landscape around you. It felt surreal at that moment.  
Your friend stopped cutting improvised junk some time ago, leaving only distant noise, chatting and some birds chirping. When you drank about half of your beer, shooting came to stop – it now seemed deadly quiet around. Obviously, it would be too dangerous and, most importantly, suspicious, if you rushed there right now. So instead, the most logical decision was to wait a bit, let everyone finish their drinks, including yours. 

When you safely arrived to the place, there was a true chaos – you recognized what must have been a powersuit some time ago, now being some burning scrap. Impressive. The snow around was now packed and painted red, littered with shells and parts of train and powersuit. As for scrap collectors, you gave impression of getting to work, picking up pieces of metal lying around, throwing it onto the pick-up. You quickly found Wilhelm, laying nearby in bloody red snow. To be honest, he didn’t look good, but maybe that was because of the blood all around – you hoped most of it stayed inside of him. He was unconscious, but his cybernetic eye was softly glowing. A few days ago, you asked if he could possibly dim it, to make him look really dead, and apparently, it wouldn’t be a problem to dim it for a while. But now, although he was all bloody and not moving, his eye was dimly lit up, which meant he was probably still alive! To be sure, you kneeled next to him and checked his breathing – to your relief, you felt a faint brush of air on your cheek, and when you focused, you could actually see his chest moving. Wow, just, wow. It would be difficult to fully describe the relief, so let me just say "incredible". Besides, as you kneeled very closely to him, you felt the scent of gunpowder, blood and metal filling chilled air around. Nice. Now, the job was to actually keep him that way before you tried to stabilize him in a safe place. You stood up proudly, and yelled at the guys to make some space – you had new passenger!

Next stop: abandoned scrapyard, around 15 minutes driving away!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry for not coming up with something more creative than using one tumblr post, but it was simply too awesome. If you don't know what I'm talking about, google "wake up before you forget how to" )
> 
> Aaand let's change the POV, only for a moment.

For a moment there I thought I woke up myself, then I realised something was wrong. I didn’t feel anything. And I don’t mean pain, just, nothing. I was just standig there, watching the mess left from the fight, but I didn’t actually remember standing up. It was dark, but I’m sure it wasn’t because of dawn, there were no stars. Only full dark. Everything, dim flames, smoke, looked like in slow motion. To be honest, I was a bit nervous, maybe I had a concussion or something. When I thought it couldn’t get more weird, I saw something partially covered in snow, moving. Slowly, and now, shocked I realized, it was me.  
Not only i didn’t feel anything, I couldn’t move either! And I was watching myself, covered in blood, messed up as never before, trying to get up. I, or he, I wasn’t sure at this point, seemed to be tired, but didn’t look like putting any effort into lifting himself up, although I would have sworn it was impossible, he was too torn up! Something was terribly wrong. He chuckled, very growly, and I still couldn’t see his face. I wasn’t sure I wanted to though.  
“You’ve been here for a while, you know”  
He was obviously trying not to laugh, but, I wasn’t so amused.  
“You really should wake up...”  
Then, he looked at me grinning. I don’t think I will ever forget it.  
“...before you forget how to.”

He jolted, gasping desperately for breath. After trying to bring him back for more than 20 minutes, he finally made it! At first he seemed like passing out again, as he couldn’t catch a breath, but Medic told you what to do in case something was wrong. Not that it was effective though. He lost his consciousness again for a moment.  
‘Come on, you can make it! Don’t give up now!’  
It was probably first time you actively did something useful instead having to ask other people for help, and it finally worked! You felt relieved as hell seeing Wilhelm wake up again and breathe on his own now. It took a while, yes, but after a few sharp inhales he regained his composure. He brushed his hair with his fingers and chuckled, visibly happy to be back. You did it, you goddamn did it! He was all sore, tired, wounded, and you had to get rid of recent implant, but the worst was over! Still laughing, he relaxed and closed his eyes, enjoying some time of rest, and most importantly, freedom. You didn’t rush him though, there was no need to hurry now. He looked awful to be honest, mostly because of all the dried blood, but that was fixable. More important was where to take him, there was no option to leave him there alone. 

Some of your buddies were still there, unpacking the junk. Most of it was taken from this place anyway, and any new piece soon blended in. But most importantly, the car was still available. Everyone was leaving, and the driver asked if you need a lift by any chance. Well, he asked out of kindness, you both obviously needed a lift.  
You knew Wilhelm didn’t want to be recognized, besides, you knew he wouldn’t look well after a fight, so all that time in the car was his hoodie, as well as his gas mask. Luckily you didn’t forget to previously ask him for these, or now you would have a problem. You did the math, and the math said that if your driver weren’t to drive all around, it would be best to visit Medic, and save the effort of your buddy.

Wilhelm wasn’t really enthusiastic about taking away his new metal part, but as Medic told you, it was just too risky. Not that you didn’t trust Engie, he was the best technician you knew, but all it could take to fry it, as well as Wilhelm, was a little electrical shock. Would be pity if something that trivial happened after all that.  
Speaking of Medic, you knew he was merry man, eerie too, yes, but you weren’t suspecting him to be so excited to see Wilhelm alive. He had reason though, it probably wouldn’t be possible without him. You just didn’t know that Medic would be happy to help people instead of hurt them :P  
This time the procedure went quicker, and after it was done, Medic asked if you wanted to stay overnight. You personally were good, you could just go home now, besides you never wanted to be trouble for people. But you weren’t sure about Wilhelm, he obviously needed a place to stay.  
“Naah, I’m good, you already did a lot. Thanks.”  
What. The fuck?  
‘Hey hey hey, wait, what?’  
“What, I’ll think of something”  
‘No you will not, can you even walk?!’  
“Yeah, kind of..”  
‘I think you should at least let Medic look at your wounds, you know, I can help you too. Besides, do you have any plan where to go now?’  
“I said I’d think of something”  
‘Leave thinking to me. And I think you could stay at my home for a while.’  
He looked at you expressionless, but didn’t say anything. You were actually risking there, I mean, did you actually know him well enough? Anyway, you were sure he would decline anyway.  
“Ok”  
Oh, ok. Medic watched you involuntarily smile, amused.  
‘Well, let me know when you want to go then.’


	8. Chapter 8

For a while now, you didn’t feel so empty inside – your presence was actually useful and contributed to saving a man, who now had a chance for vengeance. You stepped into your house, finally, because it was obvious he was exhausted – you should have known that he was trying to play cool, but there you were anyway. 

First thing first, he needed to shower off all that blood. You had one super big Slayer t-shirt, and you were pretty sure it would fit him, so you dug it from your wardrobe. You were particularly keen on oversized clothes, but that one was just ridiculous on you, as well as one pair of moro trousers. To this day you have no idea why you bought these. You wanted to sell them, but now both of these could be actually used by someone of appropriate size.   
‘I can help if you want.’  
He was probably still shook, maybe too tired to think, he didn’t answer you, trying to remove the hoodie. You had to stand on your toes to help with it, he was really tall.  
‘Heyy, you still there?’  
“What? I wasn’t listening”  
‘I said I can help if you want’  
“With what?”  
‘You don’t look like managing all that. Especially whatever happened to your back. But hey, just asking.’  
“UHH, you can’t be… serious” you understood his unwillingness, yet the cause was still important. For a moment there you felt like being a useful member of society.  
‘Oh right, you’ve got a dick, and I don’t have access to the internet and never saw one. Big deal. But it’s ok if you don’t want, just, you know, pay some attention or you’ll die of some nasty infection.’  
It seemed that your argument was wisely used, because you could tell he was rethinking it. 

The buttons on his jacket were tightly shut, but not too problematic. He let you do the job, patiently waiting for you to gently remove his clothes, soaked in blood and mud. Feeling of his sore skin coming into contact with warm air must have been a great relief. His combat clothes were pretty tight and thick at the same time, so you were going slowly – it would be really unpleasant to just tear it off. Judging on his relaxed expression and humming, he appreciated that.   
Now it was time to roll up your sleeves and get to work!  
It was a true struggle – warm water was ruthless to every single wound on his body, while lukewarm made him shiver. There was a lot to do too, and it quickly turned out why shower was better option than bath. He didn’t talk to you or look at you, you even thought he was dispirited. Well, that shouldn’t be really surprising, he was barely awake, but there was something more to that. You didn’t bother him though, he’d had a bad day already.  
You were reaching for yet another swab to clean what probably a fall or being dragged did to his back, when he finally spoke. He still didn’t look at you though.  
“No one ever saw me like that.”  
‘Dirty or naked?’  
“Vulnerable.”  
For a moment were wondering whether he really was OK with that, even though he let you do all this. Maybe he changed his mind? And you probably shouldn’t really joke when he said that. Well, you now had something to overthink about. But it wasn’t time to overthink your bad life decisions.  
‘There’s always that first time.’  
And again, only the sound of pouring water remained.   
You left the cut on his head for the last – it went from his forehead to slightly behind his hairline. You moved to face him, and for the first time now he made eye contact with you, though you were not really sure of his expression – or rather lack of it.   
‘Close your eyes. Or, eye..’  
You didn’t look at him closer though – you were pretty sure he could still see you with that cybernetic eye, so you focused on the cut, not him.  
Except from a few flinches at the touch, he did really well. He opened his eyes when realised you’re done, only to see you grabbing a shampoo.  
“And what do you think you are doing?”  
‘Well, since you’re here..’  
He didn’t protest, didn’t speak, didn’t grunt. Just sighed.  
‘It won’t take long.’  
You did your best to wash his hair as gently as you could, and quickly at the same time. You knew he wanted to go to rest already, but the job had to be finished. So you thought of something.  
‘So uhh, maybe grab that soap, so we’ll finish quicker.’  
“Naah, I’d prefer you do it.”  
OOOOOh  
You paused, a bit shocked, and he winked at you, smiling lightly.  
‘Ok’  
He grabbed it anyway when you started to rinse, and were actually relieved seeing this – you weren’t sure if you wanted to touch him everywhere… he really saved you the trouble to be honest. So you left him for a moment to grab the towel and the clothes.   
‘You know, maybe only put pants on, I’ll dress all that mess and then you’ll put a T-shirt on.’   
There was a couch in your room. Pretty useless, since you spent most of your time by the desk or in your bed. And now, with some spare sheet, it was finally useful. 

‘Aight, I’m not done with you yet.’  
Good thing you had bandages at home. They would come in handy from time to time. Apart from the stitches Medic made there weren’t any that needed to be sewn too, so you didn’t worry about learning to make stitches. He looked pretty miserable, yes, but it could be much worse. Bruises and scrathes were almost everywhere, and a few pretty deep cuts made their way through his armor too. Well, maybe some of them should be sewn. Whatever. It looked as if he took more beating than actually being shot at. The skin on his left arm looked as if it was a galaxy, colored in scarlet and pink. You remember one of his knees looking pretty much the same, not to mention smaller, in different colors, scattered around his body. You didn’t bother to count, but if you were to dress all that, you’d need to buy more dressings soon. That is assuming you’d skip the small ones. You hoped he would recover in time to get his revenge.   
Your hands were warm because of water, yet he still shivered from your touch. Well, it all must have hurt. He was also hissing from time to time, but why blame him? Apart from that you were also aware that he was looking at you all that time you were cutting up plasters or gauze. It wasn’t piercing stare, rather a soft gaze, but you were still aware of it, and therefore nervous. Now your hands were also shaking.   
You let him put the t-shirt on, but noticed he seemed to be unable to raise his left arm, the “galaxy” one. It didn’t look as if he had his colarbone broken, but you didn’t know shit anyway.  
‘Uhh, what’s wrong with it? I hope you didn’t break anything..’  
“I doubt it.”  
‘Well, it seems you took some beating there, but if you say so..’  
“I mean, it would be that easy.”  
‘Why?’  
“I’ve got metal bones.”  
Oh. So that would explain why he probably didn’t break anything. Anyway, it would be ignorant to let him suffer like that, so you found a gel for contusions, hoping it would bring some relief.   
The cut above his temple was the last one again. He had to sit to let you wrap his head in bandage, and you once again realized how smol you were compared to him. At least he closed his eye, but you still were sure he could watch you witch the cybernetic one. You couldn’t help but sneakily stroke his wet hair, hoping he wouldn’t notice it.

When you were done, he dropped on the bed exhausted and sighed. The atmosphere in the room was incredible, peaceful. It was getting dark outside, making the room look dim. You’ve probably never seen anyone looking so relieved. And the room smelled like gel for bruises, gauze and your soap. You were sure he would fall asleep in a moment, so you cut one more piece of plaster, a very small one. He didn’t even pay attention, good. You noticed he had a small, tiny cut on his cheek, so you put the small piece of plaster on it, almost like a cherry on a cake.   
He lazily looked at you once again, steadily inhaling.  
“Thanks.”  
‘Ey no problem, just get some rest now, it’s high time I think’  
You lightly patted him on the chest, carefully not to cause more pain, and stood up, about to leave him and let get some sleep in peace.  
“Hey?”  
‘Hm?’  
“Can you tell me your name now?”  
You snorted, remembering you once actually refused to do so.  
‘Sure!’


End file.
